


Crush

by Semi_problematic



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-25 23:19:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12543516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Semi_problematic/pseuds/Semi_problematic
Summary: crushkrəSH/Submitverba brief but intense infatuation for someone, especially someone unattainable or inappropriate.





	Crush

**Author's Note:**

> All the times Richie and Eddie were distracted by each other and got hurt because of it.

1.

The gym floor squeaked against people's tennis shoes, everyone running around in their own group, passing a basketball back and forth. People yelled when they missed and people yelled when they got a basket. You couldn't really tell the difference anymore. Not that the distance mattered, anyway, but Richie always enjoyed watching people and listening .

Today was different, though. Today Ms. Hill was sick so her English class had to be sent to the gym so they could be watched. Eddie sat on top of the bleachers with a few of his classmates. He kept laughing every few minutes and it made Richies fists tighten and his blood boil. He was the only one that could do that. It wasn't fair. 

Freshman year everything changed. Eddie joined baseball and a book club while Mike joined a half day veterinary program so he could start to learn about animals. Beverly joined the science club and Ben helped out at the library and joined book club as well. Stan did the cooking club along with the world studies club which was bascially just social studies but you got to eat food from around the world, too. Bill joined wrestling and weightlifting. They all left Richie in the dust.

They were all still friends and hung out all the time, but they also had new friends. Friends to talk to in classes and to sit with at lunch and to do projects with. Richie had none of that. School clubs weren't his thing and he rather die than play an actual sport. He tried to do drama but the teacher turned him down. Freshman year was hell and so was the beginning of sophomore year by the looks of it. They all had even more friends and Richie was still alone. 

He didn't want to admit that, though. He pretended he had friends, he talked about them and gave them all different names. He couldn't become even more of a loser. Plus, they would all laugh at them if they heard his sob story of "I'm outgoing when it comes to you guys but if anyone says anything to me in a serious manner I don't know how to act." Along with the story of "I can't make friends on my own I'm actually really nervous and don't know how to talk to people like a normal human being."

Richie was lucky this year, though. He got lunch with Stan, Eddie, and Beverly. He would never tell them, but he was the closest to those three, and they always made his day a little more bearable, even if lunch was only twenty minutes. 

One thing that wasn't lucky about Richie this year was the fact that he was madly in love with an asthmatic kid who suddenly decided to start wearing his bifocals. That's how this all began. One day, Richie was sitting on a tree branch, knocking on Eddies window over and over, smiling from ear to ear. That was normal for them. What wasn't normal was that Eddie opened the window with his bifocals on. Richie gasped and fell off of the branch, breaking his arm and putting him in a cast for 6 to 7 weeks. 

2.

Ms. Hill ended up being gone all week, so Eddie had English every day in the gym while Richie attempted to play basketball. Today they were split into two teams, each number off as a one or a two. Richie got two which ended up being almost every guy in his class. They were twice his size and treated the class as if it were the Olympics. Richie was fucked to say the least.

The game was going good. Richies team had scored six points and he hasn't had to touch the ball even once. It was perfect. Richie also may or may not have spent most of the game glancing at Eddie and watching him read through a text book, his glasses slowly slipping off of his face. It was adorable, the way Eddie read through his books and took notes. He practically copied down everything in the book. 

Eddie glanced up from his book and smiled, waving at Richie. "You're doing great!" He yelled, clapping his hands. His smile only grew wider when Richie looked up at him.

"What?" 

"You're doing great!" Eddie screamed, cupping his hands around his mouth.

Richie felt his cheeks heat up. "Yeah, well, you look grea-" Richie was cut off when a ball slammed into his face, knocking him off of his feet. His glasses were broke and his eyes were watering and from what the people were saying around him his lip and nose were both bleeding. His head was pounding and everyone sounded like they were miles away from him. Everything felt too bright.  

The coach hovered over him, squinting as he studied Richies face. "It's broken. Someone take him to the nurse!" 

"I'll do it!" Eddie called, running down from the bleachers and pushing past the men that were twice and almost three times his size. "We're friends. I'll do it." He smiled.

Richie only rolled away from Eddie and groaned. Now Eddie was going to see him look worse than hell. He would never agree to go on a date with Richie after seeing him look this ugly. He didn't have a choice, though. Eddie was already pulling him to his feet and wrapping his arms around Richies sides.

"Come on." Eddie grunted. "You can walk." He rubbed Richies back and it set his nerves on fire. "I'm sorry."

"Why?" Richie whispered, stumbling out of the gym doors. 

"Because it's my fault." Eddie lead him towards the stairs. "I distracted you so when they threw the ball it hit you and broke your nose." 

"We don't know if it's officially broken."

"We do." Eddie replied. "It's.. bad."

"Great." Richie mumbled. "And my glasses are ruined, aren't they?"

"I have an extra pair in my locker. When I drop you off at the nurse I'll go and get it. Okay?" 

Richie nodded, resting his head on top of Eddies. "Kay." 

"I think we should stop hanging out." Eddie mumbled.

Richie jumped, jerking away from Eddie and falling against a locker. "What?!" 

Eddie laughed. "I'm not being serious. I just keep being the reason you're hurt. I don't like it."

"You aren't the reason any of this happened." Richie mumbled. "I'm just clumsy."

Eddie walked towards him and wrapped his arms around Richie once more. "I won't ever leave you, you know that."

Richie didn't know that, but he prayed it was true.

3.

It was movie night and Richie was attempting to pop popcorn on the stove. It wasn't going well, he already got popcorn, cooked and uncooked, all over Bills kitchen. The others were in the living room, going through the movies they could watch and the ones that peope refused to watch. Most of the refused ones were horror, much to Beverlys disappointment.  

"Richie!" Ben called. "Are you okay with a Disney movie?"

"I have a lot of them!" Bill added. "But we can't really pick!"

"Disney is for kids, guys!" Beverly shouted, but not at anyone in particular. "We're almost sixteen! We should be watching adult movies!" 

"You aren't much of an adult if you call them adult movies." Mike teased. "That's almost as bad as saying grown up movies."

"Fuck off, Mike, you cry when animals die in movies!" 

"BAMBI WAS A SAD MOVIE!" Mikes voice boomed. 

"In my defense, Disney movies are classics and most adults watch them." Stan stated calmly. "And if you didn't cry at Bambi you probably don't have a heart."

"We already know Beverly doesn't have a heart!" Richie screamed from the kitchen. 

Eddie stepped into the kitchen, smirking. "You don't wanna get involved. World War three is about to start in there."

"Over a Disney movie?" Richie grinned.

"Are you really surprised?" Eddie replied, opening up the fridge and bending down, picking up cans of soda.

Richie shook his head. "No. Tell them to pick Cinderella."

"Okay." Eddie grinned. "I'll try." He walked back into the living room and sat down, setting the cans of soda on the table. "How about we watch Cinderella?"

"I like that one." Stan pointed at Eddie. "There's cute birds." 

"Yeah, I'm a big fan of the animals." Mike replied. "Maybe we can watch Dumbo after!" 

"Fine." Beverly sighed. "But next time I'm picking a horror movie."

"Deal." Bill replied, shaking her hand. "And if anyone needs to leave the room for it they can."

"I know I will." Ben mumbled. "Horror movies are gonna be the death of me." 

"Same. I'm too scared by them." Eddie crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "I'll just play a board game or skip that night." 

"Don't worry." Richie called from the kitchen. "I'll protect you."

"Because you're so manly." Ben laughed.

Richie peeked out of the kitchen, flipping the group off with both hands. "Suck my nuts."

Beverly smirked. "I think he already has."

"No!" Ben laughed. "I love Richie but I would never! My type is cute red heads."

Beverly blushed and elbowed him. "You're a sap."

"I wouldn't let him, anyway." Richie mumbled, stepping into the living room. "I got a thing for cute boys with asthma."

"Awe." Bill smiled.

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to him. He's just being a smartass."

"C'mon. What if I really did like you?" Richie asked. Butterflies erupted in his stomach and his cheeks began to heat up.

"You wouldn't." Eddie shook his head, looking down. His cheeks were red, too. That was a good sign, right? 

"Who says?" Richie asked, glancing down nervously at the floor. "I could like y-"

"Guys!" Stans voice cracked. "Guys! There's smoke coming from the kitchen!" 

Richie whipped around and gasped. "Oh god! The popcorn! Oh god!" He ran into the kitchen and grabbed the pan with the popcorn in it, screaming when it burnt his hand. "Fuck!" 

"Richie!" Eddie called, rushing into the kitchen. "Did you just grab that? With your bare hand!?" 

Richie nodded. "Yeah." 

Eddie knelt down next to him and grabbed his arm, looking down at the burns. "Shit. This is bad."

"I had no idea!" Richie groaned, wincing when he moved his fingers.

"Guys! What the hell!?" Stan screamed. "It's still on fire!" 

"I got it!" Bill yelled, rushing into the kitchen and grabbing the fire extinguisher, triggering it and spraying it all over the pan and the popcorn and foil left inside. 

Eddie wrapped his arms around Richie as soon as it went off. "Don't breathe it in." He whispered.

"Thanks," Richie mumbled. "But worry about yourself-"

Eddie frowned.

"You have asthma." Richie finished, cupping Eddies cheek with his good hand. 

Eddie smiled down at him, his cheeks turning bright red.

"Get a room." Beverly teased, sticking her tongue out.

"C'mon guys," Mike mumbled. "We need to get outta here and let it air out."

Eddie looked away from Richie, clearing his throat. "Right.."

"Yeah.." Richie breathed out. "Right."

4\. 

They decided they needed a club house. It was considered childish by a lot of people, but for the Losers it felt genius. They decided to use Stans shed in his backyard. It hadn't been used in years and with a few nails and pieces of wood it would be perfect. The Losers ended up spending months saving up to buy everything they needed, but by the middle of fall they finally had enough for fix it up. 

Stan had a hard hat on and so did Eddie. They were both the most nervous about getting hurt. Mike said he didn't care, that he had been kicked in the head a handful of times by animals on his families farm. Bill watched and so did Ben, they were the ones guiding everything and drawing out the plans. Richie didn't have a hard hat on but he was working with Eddie, Mike, and Stan, all hammering pieces of wood onto the sides of the building. Beverly sat on the top of the shed, hammering pieces of wood down over the holes in the ceiling. 

Eddie stumbled into the dusty and dirty shed, holding a few pieces of wood. He dropped them down onto the floor and winced and covered his mouth when all the dust flew up into the air. "This is going to kill me." 

You're going to kill me, Richie thought, but I don't mind going out that way.

"You can go out and help Bev." Richie offered. "You'll have more fresh air out there than in here." 

"No." Eddie shook his head, his hard hat falling over his eyes. He huffed and pushed it up, wiping his hands off on his overalls. Yes, overalls. When Richie saw him in them he spent fifteen minutes choking on air. "I'm fine." 

Richie smirked. "You're so stubborn." 

"I'm really not." Eddie replied, picking up one of the pieces of wood and holding it up, looking around to see if there was a place it would fit. His hard hat fell in front of his eyes again and Richie couldn't help but smile. It had happened all day and it was probably the cutest thing Richie had ever seen. 

"Yeah, okay." Richie smirked. "You just agree with everything everyone says and never ever argue."

"Bite me, Richard."

"Don't tempt me. You look tasty."

Eddie groaned and turned around, glaring at him. "Put yourself to good use and start hammering, put the board right up against that hole."

"That's what your mom said last night."

"I change my mind," Eddie sighed. "Hammer my head in, please."

Richie scoffed and walked across the room, picking up the board and beginning to hammer. He hammered the top half into the wood before bending down and picking up another nail. He pressed the nail against the wood and began to hammer, glancing over at Eddie who was looking at himself in the small mirror they had propped up against the wall, along with buckets of paint. 

Eddie unbuttoned one of the straps of his overalls and looked at himself, spinning around before smiling. It was small, but it was beautiful.

Richie continued to hammer the nail into the wood, biting his lip as he watched Eddie.

Eddie pulled his hard hat off and ran his fingers through his hair, trying his best to get it all to lay flat again.

"Ow! Fuck!" Richie screamed when the metal hammer came down on his thumb. "Shit! Balls! Asshole! Mary! Jesus! Joseph!" 

"Don't talk about the holy family when you're in pain!" Mike called. "It's rude!" 

"I could've broken my thumb but you're more concerned about me offending dead people!?" Richie screamed, tears filling his eyes. 

"Richie!" Eddie gasped, rushing over. "What happened?"

I was staring at you, he thought, I'm always staring at you. You distract me and it'll kill me one day.

"My hand slipped or something. I don't know." Richie winced when he tried to move his hand. "God. It hurts!" 

"Lets get some ice." Eddie whispered, his arms wrapping around Richie productively. "You guys can take a break or keep working. I'm gonna take care of Richie.

Richie tried to pretend he didn't hear what Beverly and Bill said nect.

"Do you think Eddie knows?" Bill whispered.

"Knows what?" She replied.

"That Richie is in love with him." 

\- 

1.

High school was hard, especially when you were madly in love with Richie Tozier, also known as the boy who flirted with anything that had a heart beat. It was even harder when your locker was right across from his and he intended on flirting with any person that walked by. 

As of right now, Eddie was staring at him, which wasn't uncommon. Eddie always did that and most of the time Richie didn't notice and the few times he did all he did was smile and give Eddie finger guns. Whatever those mean. 

But right now Eddie was studying him, one hand on his locker and the other hand inside of it. Richie had a girl up against the lockers, talking about something she didn't seem to know about judging by the look on her face. It made Eddies stomach hurt and his heart ache. It wasn't fair loving someone that wouldn't ever love him back. It was painful and it sucked and it made Eddie want to go up and deck Richie right in his stupid big mouth. Or maybe kiss him. Eddie preferred kissing, but he knew the closest he would get was punching.

"Hey." Stan mumbled, walking up to Eddies locker, leaning against the ones next to it. "What's wro-" He followed Eddies eyes over to Richie. "Oh." He smirked. "You're jealous."

"Shut up." Eddie grumbled, the grip on his locker tightening, his knuckles white. 

"Just go ask him out. It's Richie. He doesn't expect fancy romantic gestures." Stan elbowed him in the side. "You're just being stubborn."

Eddie glared at him. "You sound just like him now. And it isn't that simple. He's-" 

"A loser. Like you. It's a match made in heaven." He mumbled, smiling.

Richie leaned closer to the girl and laughed, causing her to laugh. 

Eddie huffed and slammed his locker shut, screaming threw clenched teeth when the metal slammed against his hand before bouncing backwards. "Fuck me!" 

"Gladly!" Richie called, walking away from the girl and across the hall. "You know, your locker would close if you moved your hand-" 

"Shut up, Richard!" Eddie shouted, rushing away from Richie, holding his hand tight. 

"What's with him?" Richie asked, closing Eddies locker.

Stan looked Richie up and down before looking back at Eddie. "Love."

2.

It was one of the hotter days in fall, which wasn't odd for Derry. Richie had called Eddie, telling him he needed his help immediately and that it was a life or death situation if he didn't come over to his house as soon as he could. Naturally, Eddie got out of bed and ran to his garage, climbing onto his bike and riding out. He pedaled so fast his legs ached and his hands were sore from gripping the handles too tight but he didn't slow down. He shook the hair that had fallen in front of his eyes out of his face and took a few deep breaths. He could make it.

The wind swirled around him, nearly blowing his bike over, but he didn't slow down. He was nervous, almost to the point of having a panic attack, because he was so worried that Richie was hurt. Or worse. Was he in trouble? It wouldn't be surprising for Richie but that didn't calm Eddie down. 

Eddie felt a wave of relief wash over him when he saw Richie in his driveway with a hose in hand and a soaking wet shirt clinging to his chest. Eddie chewed on his lip and slowed down his speed, taking in the view. He wished he had a Polaroid so he could capture the moment. Words could t when begin to describe how good he looked. He could pass as a model, with the way he bent over the car and scrubbed at the hood with the sponge.

Richie stepped away from the car and peeled his shirt off, throwing it off to the side next to the bucket of water. A gasp escaped Eddies lips and his eyes widened. A sharp jolt pulled his thoughts away from Richie.

Eddies bike rammed into the front of a car that was parked on the side of the road. Eddie flew off of his bike and onto the hood of the car, his back slamming against the windshield, knocking the air out of him. He gasped and patted his jeans and jacket around, smiling when he found his inhaler. He slipped it between his lips and triggered it a few times, taking deep, panicked breaths.

"Eddie!" Richie screamed as he ran towards him. "Are you okay?! What happened? Did your bike break?" 

Eddie shook his head, sitting up and looking down at his lap, chewing on his lip. "No.. I just.. um.. I got a bit.. ya know.. distracted."

Richie smirked and grabbed Eddies hands, pulling him off of the hood of the car. "Yeah.. I get uh.. distracted sometimes, too." 

Eddie glanced up at him, nodding. "Then you must get what happened."

Richies smirk turned into a smile. "I'm pretty sure I do.

Eddie shoved Richie to the side and rolled his eyes. "Nevermind."

"You got distracted by me being shirtless!" He teased.

"Yeah, because you look like a hairless cat!" Eddie shot back. "Leave me alone, Richie."

"Admit it, Eds, you think I'm smoking." 

"You wish." Eddie replied, picking up his bike and guiding it into Richies drive way. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear what Richie said next. 

"I do," Richie whispered. "I really do."

3.

They were walking home, their jackets pulled tight around their bodies and their hoods up. They would normally be riding their bikes but Henry and his friends thought it would be funny to steal them and hide them all around the town, telling the Losers that it was their job to find them. They had to spend about forty five minutes calming Stan down and promising him that they will try to find his bike first no matter what.

Mike and Richie were the two that were the most angry. Beverly was a close third, putting a hole through her wall when she first found out. It wasn't even about the bikes, it was about the fact that it upset everyone. They were all pissed that the others were upset. 

Thats how they ended up here. Henry and his friends were walking towards their car in the parking lot when the Losers got out of school. Richie was the one to start it. He stormed over, shoving through the group surrounding Henry. He shoved him against a car.

"You can fuck with me all you want!" Richie screamed. "But leave my friends out of it! I'm the one who keyed your car! They didn't even know it happened!" 

"Richie!" Ben gasped.

"You know better than that!" Bill shouted. 

Stan nodded. "He also wants to fight." He breathed out. "He likes getting back at them."

"Can he even take them?" Mike asked.

Beverly shook her head. "Not all four. I don't think he could even take Henry." 

"But," Eddie whispered. "Richie is pretty scary when he's mad."  

"But Henry plays dirty." Beverly covered her mouth. "We should be ready to get in it.. in case it gets bad and Henry doesn't stop."

They all nodded, never taking their eyes off of Richie and Henry. It started out with badmouthing, something Richie didn't have a problem with. Then it turned into shoving, Henry's friends and the Losers both backing up. After the shoving it turned into beating. Both of them had bloody noses and bruising faces. They didn't stop, though. A crowd slowly began to form around them but the boys kept their attention on each other.

"That all you got?" Richie grinned, his glasses shattered and barely staying on his face.

Henry shook his head with a sickening smirk creeping across his lips. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his knife, flicking it open. "Not anywhere close, trashmouth." 

Eddie gasped, running away from the Losers and pushing through the crowd. He didn't know what he was thinking when he shoved Henry off of Richie and climbed on top of him, beginning to punch him, but what he did know is that if he could go back in time and change it he wouldn't. 

"Eddie!" Richie scremed, pushing himself up only to be shoved back down by one of his friends. "Stop! Get off!" 

"Should we go?" Stan asked.

"Not yet." Beverly replied. "Not yet."

Eddie crashed his fists against Henrys jaw, screaming with every punch. "Stay away from him!" He shouted, landing one final blow into his nose. He thought it was done, so he stood up only to feel a sharp sting in his leg. Eddie fell to his knees beside Henry who stood up and ran off with the rest of the crowd.

"He cut you." Richie mumbled, sitting up. He pulled Eddie into his lap and held him close. "God. You're so stupid!" 

"I was defending you, asshole."

"Why?" 

"Because I care about you." Eddie thought it was obvious. Stan always said it was. 

"Well, stop. All it does is get you hurt." Ruchie ran his fingers through Eddies hair.

Eddie couldn't argue with him, but he would never say that. 

 

4.

The halls were crowded but Eddie still managed to find Richie and follow where he was going. Eddie had his class schedule memorized but Richie hardly went to classes. He played it off like he didn't care and he let people call him stupid, but Eddie knew neither of those were the case. Richie was too smart for school. His brain worked too fast for it and he was already smart enough. He didn't need school, so all he did was enough to pass, and teachers didn't miss him in class. He talked too much. They all called him annoying.

Thats something Eddie has yet to figure out. How could anyone hate Richie? Let alone hate all the parts that make him himself. Eddie had fallen in love with his brains and the way he could dart from subject to subject and say a swear word in every sentence. He fell in love with the cheesy jokes and bad flirting. He fell in love with everything that added up to be Richie Tozier. Who couldn't fall for him? 

Richie turned around and gasped when he saw Eddie. "Eds!" He shouted.

Eddie blushed. "Richie," His heart skipped a beat. "You know I hate it when you call me that."

"Yeah, well, it makes you blush all red and when you blush you somehow get even cuter." Richie ruffled his hair, turning with him down a hall. "Where are you going?"

"Geometry." Eddie mumbled, his eyes studying the way Richies mouth curved into a smile. "And you?" 

"Home." Richie tossed his head back in a fit of laughter. Eddie forgot how to breathe. It was beautiful. "Stop staring at me."

"I'm not staring." Eddie replied with a huff, grunting when he ran into a wall as they rounded another corner.

Richie laughed once more. "See? Staring!" 

Eddie blushed bright red and kept his head down. He wasn't going to argue. After all, who wouldn't stare at Richie?


End file.
